26O MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



per head, with board, they furnishing their own shears. In 

 some parts of the territory they are paid more than this, but we 

 haven't heard of any being paid over five ients. 



FEW SHEARING MACHINES. 



Machine plants are few and far between in New Mexico, 

 although there are some plants doing very successful- work, but, as 

 a rule, the Mexicans work too cheap for the machine to make much 

 headway in this territory. There should be more machines than 

 there are. The best Mexican shearers clip from 100 to 125 in a 

 day, but the average is 75 head. 



Unlike most of the western states, the sheep in New Mexico 

 graze principally on the prairies and in the valleys during the 

 summer months, and during the winter months are held mostly in 

 the foot hills and around the edges of the mountains, where 

 shelter from storms is easily found. Snow seldom lies on the 

 ground long enough to necessitate the 'feeding of hay. It is very 

 necessary to get sheep out to grazing early during the summer 

 months, as they want to lie in the shade during the hot part of the 

 day, and have to graze early and late in order to get enough to eat. 



It is never good policy to give a herder a corral for his sheep, 

 unless it is absolutely necessary for protection from wild animals, 

 or for some other good reason, as he is liable to sleep late at the 

 expense of the sheep ; but if on a "bed ground," they will go to 

 rustling themselves pretty early, and thereby cause the herder to 

 follow suit. 



DIPPING. 



The government, through the Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 has taken up the dipping of sheep in the territory to a great extent 

 the past year or two. They use either lime and sulphur or tobacco 

 and sulphur. We, who' have used lime and sulphur before, and 

 know its baneful effects on wool, are very hard to convert to the 

 Bureau's idea that lime and sulphur when properly prepared does 

 not injure the wool. We have seen the growth of wool stopped 

 for six months as a result of a lime and sulphur dipping, and, 

 if it injures the wool to that extent when improperly mixed, we 

 are of the opinion that it w r ill injure it to a certain extent when 

 properly mixed. It is a little cheaper than tobacco and sulphur, 

 and some sheepmen think they are saving money when they use it. 



New Mexico no doubt has a great future as a sheep country. 

 As we have said before, she takes third place in the list of states 

 and territories now as to the number of sheep, and we predict that, 

 nt the expiration of another ten years, she will occupy first place. 

 Montana and Wyoming have, we think, reached their maximum 



